Ohana Mau Loa
by LadyMoonSilver
Summary: Once again I have moved everything into the mid '90's. I suppose this could be added content for Chicken and the Menehune and it gives a bit more insight into the two women who are making Steve McGarrett and Duke Lukela's lives a bit more interesting. Please read, review, and enjoy.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Once again revisiting old friends who belong to CBS but generously allow us to take them out when we need some company.

Please let me remind you that once again everything has been moved to the mid-nineties. Same characters, just an updated, older, and maybe wiser, version of the originals.

I was in a hurry to finish _Chicken and the Menehune_ before a cross country move and felt that I had left the story incomplete. This is added content that takes place after McGarrett's meeting with the Governor. I suppose I wanted to see how strong men would cope after a traumatic event.

Please read and enjoy.

Thank you.

LMS

* * *

McGarrett returned from the meeting with the governor just as the therapist was wheeling Maggie back to her room. He helped her get back into bed and held her hand as she cried from pain.

"Can you get her something for the pain?" he asked the therapist.

"NO!" Maggie said. "No pain medication. I don't need it, and I don't want it!

"Sweetie, please," Steve said. "You're in pain. Quit being so damned stubborn and take the medication."

"No!" she said. "I am not getting addicted to that junk. I'll be okay, baby. Just no pain medication." She was pale and shaking, silent tears streaming down her cheeks.

"At least let the nurses give you something to help you sleep," he said, brushing a stray lock of hair from her face.

She tried to smile and couldn't. "Get her to give you something too," she said. "When was the last time you got any sleep?"

"No trying reverse psychology on me, young lady," he said. "It won't work. I'm not leaving you. The house is to quiet without you there and I can't sleep without you next to me."

"What am I suppose to do with you, Commander?" she asked, trying not to cry.

"I thought I told you that months ago. All you have to do is keep me."

She held his hand to her cheek. "I'm sorry." she whispered.

"For what, sweetie? You're in pain, it's okay. You can cry all you want and be as grumpy as you want. It's allowed."

"I lost our baby." she said, softly.

He looked down at the small women almost lost in the hospital bed. He pulled the covers up over her shoulders and gently wiped the tears from her face. "I love you," he whispered. "And I don't ever want to hear you say that again. It wasn't your fault. No one could have foreseen what happened. If it's anyone's fault it's mine. I should have done more to protect you." Big Chicken had set his sights on Maggie and Susan in a twisted attempt at revenge. Chicken and his cronies Collins and Barker had abducted both women from Ft Shafter using a van stolen from the Navy. The MP's on the gate had seen the Navy markings and simply waved them through. McGarrett and Lukela were both planning on finding the identity of the MP's who'd let the vehicle through and making their lives miserable for the duration of their stay in Hawaii.

"Shhhhh," he whispered. "I love you. You've got to get better. You know I can't live without my little _Menehune_."

All he could do was hold her hand as she cried. He'd never felt so utterly useless.

One of the nurses came in to adjust the medication in Maggie's IV. Steve didn't know what was in the syringe the nurse injected into the line, but within minutes Maggie was sleeping peacefully. The nurse took one look at Steve and ordered him to go home. "You're not going to do her any good, hovering like you are," she said. "Go home and get some rest. You look like hell." The nurse reminded him of Maggie's sister Vinnie, no nonsense and bossy.

"She has PTSD. What happens if she wakes up and doesn't know where she is? Especially if I'm not here?" he asked.

"Mr. McGarrett," the nurse said, giving him a sympathetic look, "I just gave her enough Valium to knock out a mule. She's going to be out for at least eight hours. Go home and get some rest before you end up in here as a patient."

He'd given up trying to argue with nurses. They didn't listen, especially when he found out they were under orders from Doc Bergman to send him home.

He was convinced it was a conspiracy. He suspected Danno and the rest of his staff were a part of it.

On his way out of the building he saw two HPD officers standing guard outside a door. Big Chicken was under 24 hour guard. Not that he was going anywhere. Duke Lukela's bullet had pulverized Chicken's spine into jelly and bone bits. He wasn't going anywhere without wheels.

McGarrett remembered very little of the incident that had left Chicken a paraplegic. He knew Duke had fired one round from a .45 into Chicken's back as he had held a gun to Maggie's head. Collins had opened fire with a .12 gauge shotgun, hitting Compton in the right side, Compton's Kevlar vest absorbing most of the impact. McGarrett didn't remember firing the shot that killed Collins or the one that sent Barker to the hospital.

The one image he couldn't get out of his head, the one that haunted him every time he closed his eyes, was the one of Maggie lying in a heap on the floor. There had been blood everywhere. So much blood that he couldn't tell if it was her's, or Chicken's or Compton's.

Chicken was alive. He'd survived the gunshot, surgery, and blood loss. McGarrett wanted to ask Duke why he'd shot to wound, not kill, but there was a look in Duke's eyes that no one had ever seen before, one that made even McGarrett hesitate to ask questions. Chicken had threatened Duke's family. Duke had made sure Chicken would never threaten his family again.

McGarrett wanted to see Chicken, if for no other reason than to reassure himself that the slimy bastard was in custody.

The HPD officer stopped him.

 _Why_ , Sgt. John Kimora thought, _does this have to happen on my watch_?

"I'm sorry, sir," he said, trying not to sound as nervous as he felt. "You're not allowed in that room, sir."

"What do you mean, not allowed?" McGarrett asked. "Do you know who I am?" He couldn't believe he'd just said that, even as the words left his mouth.

"Yes, sir," said Kimora, "I do. And I've got orders not to let you in this room."

"From whom?" McGarrett asked, scowling, planning on raising bloody hell with the watch commander who had issued the orders.

"Sgt Lukela said there were two people who were not allowed in that room under any circumstances. He was very adamant about it. He said you were not allowed in the room, sir. If you want to go in, you're going to have to see Sgt Lukela first."

Duke Lukela, soon to be Five-O's newest detective had given the order.

"Did he say why?" McGarrett asked.

"No, sir, only that there were two people not allowed in this room under any circumstances."

"Who's the other one?"

"Sgt Lukela, sir."

McGarrett closed his eyes for a few seconds. Duke was right, he really shouldn't be anywhere near Big Chicken.

"Very well then, Sgt. Kimora. Good job." Kimora breathed out a huge sigh of relief as he watched McGarrett leave.


	2. Chapter 2

Maggie's car was in the driveway. Steve had no idea when the lab had finished with it and returned it to the house. He found it ironic that her car was home before she was.

The house had the stuffy unlived in feeling that homes get when their inhabitants are gone for long periods of time. He could tell the housekeeper had been in. She had given the house a thorough cleaning and had left several meals worth of food carefully stashed in labeled Tupperware containers.

He went into the bedroom, stripped off his rumpled suit, and headed for the shower.

An hour later and he was feeling almost human again. He went to the kitchen to see if the housekeeper had left the coffeepot set up and ready to go. At the last minute he decided against coffee. Doc had already accused him of living off the stuff. He opted for pineapple juice instead.

The house was too quiet without Maggie. It wasn't that she made a lot of noise, because she didn't. She was a still, soft presence who filled his life with light and love and laughter.

He didn't like to think about how close he'd came to losing her.

He was too tired and restless to sleep. He wandered into the dining room. There were a pile of notebooks on the tabletop, all dated by month and year. The top one was from October of '95, just a month before she had shipped out to Honolulu. Maggie always started a new journal on her birthday instead of at the new year.

She had been keeping journals since she enlisted. He knew she was trying to get them in some kind of order before she retired from the Army. He ran his hand across the cover of the top book in the stack. He'd never read her journals. He suspected that when she was ready, she would give them to him, probably neatly wrapped in ribbon. Cop instinct took over. When he wanted to know answers, he'd look until he found them, and what he wanted to know more than anything was what made Maggie, well, Maggie.

He opened the top journal. On the first page was a small yellow sticky note. The note read _"It's okay, Steve, you can read this one. This is why I love you so much."_

He took the journal back to the living room, hoping he'd be able to finish reading before he fell asleep.

What he found would give him nightmares.

 _October 9, 1995 Ft Bragg, NC_

 _Bugger this. I'm tired. I've been alone since Micheal died. I miss my husband. I want to see my little girl. There's only one way that will ever happen. I will join them before this year is done._

 _October 12, 1995, Ft Bragg, NC_

 _It's cold. Worse yet having to wake up alone when it's cold. Micheal, I miss you so much. Never felt so alone in my life. Researched the Army's policy on paying off life insurance benefits for suicides. I'm going to have to make this look like an accident._

 _October 15, 1995 Ft Bragg, NC_

 _Cold weather is making my back hurt like hell. Got levy orders for Hawaii. Colonel Dale wants me on staff for Stars and Stripes Pacific. Lu's already there. Sophie's going to Vassar. Even with a scholarship it's going to cost a fortune. Changed my will and beneficiary. Sophie's my new heir. Now to find a way to make this work._

 _October 21, 1995 Ft Bragg, NC_

 _Heard Bruce singing about suicide machines. I think I know how this is going to work._

 _October 25, 1995 Winston-Salem, NC_

 _I found it! It's a brand new and heavily modified Mustang. Biggest eight cylinder Ford makes, modified to Coyote standard, hydraulic clutch and brakes and a tranny with enough torque to launch the space shuttle. A lovely little yellow and black ragtop with a primo sound system. Dealer wanted 45K for it. I talked him down to 39. I still have Micheal's life insurance and when the magic words 'cash sale' were uttered, he was more than willing to deal. Too bad it's going to be destroyed._

 _November 1, 1995 Grande Isle, LA_

 _They say you can't go home again, they're right. My mom still thinks I need to find a man and settle down. Thanks, but no; had one, he's gone. Never going to risk my heart again. Hurts to damned much. Not planning on being around that long. Geeze, now she's saying I could go to nursing school like Vinnie or to beauty school like Trudy. Screw that. I'm going home._

 _November 7, 1995 Somewhere on I-10 West of Houston._

 _Houston sucks. Convinced every man in Texas driving a pickup truck is a dick._

 _November 8, 1995 Junction, Texas the middle of nowhere on I-10_

 _Almost desolate enough for my needs. Maybe I'll wait until I get to the middle of the Arizona desert. That way lots of privacy and no witnesses. Nice people here in this part of Texas, though. Sweet as they can be. Maybe it's living in Houston that turns people ugly._

 _November 9/10/11, 1995, Tombstone, Arizona_

 _Why am I still alive? Eventually I stopped shaking long enough to hold a pen. According to the trucker who saw it all, EMS should still be in the process of cutting my corpse out of my car. Instead, I'm at this lovely little western themed inn waiting for a truck from Tucson to bring in four new tires. I only really need two, but hey, what the heck, the tow truck guy was so sweet I'm springing for a full set._

 _Plus my little 'Stang deserves it._

 _It was road debris. Trash that had fallen off a construction truck. Took out both tires on the passenger side. I was only going about 90. Yeah I know, too damned fast. The back tire went first. Did the usual, slow down, steer into the skid, still got some control. Instinct has already taken over. I'm thinking, cool, got a war story, forgetting entirely about the reason I'd bought the suicide machine in the first place._

 _That was when the front tire said it had no more fucks to give._

 _Try doing 90 with duel blowouts on the passenger side. You don't have time to be scared. You don't have time to do much except hold on and try not to die._

 _The car does a 180 and thank goodness it's the middle of the night and there's no other traffic. Hit the median between east and westbound I-10 at about 80. Plowed up a giant cloud of red dust and dirt. Car comes to a stop, out of the road and facing the opposite direction._

 _I kill the engine and shut off the lights._

 _Got out of the car, and for some reason, looked up._

 _Stars everywhere. I've never seen so many stars in one place at one time. Millions and millions of stars, twinkling there in the sky, seeming almost close enough to touch. Big ones, little ones, little tiny wandering shooting stars. The most beautiful sky I've ever seen anywhere._

 _Then I was blinded by the light as the trucker who had seen me swerving all over the place and saw me do the 180 pulled over to the left shoulder of the Eastbound side to see if I was still alive._

 _Of course he had a CB radio. He hit the emergency channel to get EMS, the Arizona Highway patrol, and a tow truck out. EMS insisted I needed to go to the hospital, the nearest one being in Tuscon. After I showed them my military ID they agreed that I wasn't really hurt but should let the doctors at Ft. Huachuca have a look at me, especially since it was going to be a few days before my car was ready._

 _I must have been the most exciting thing that happened that night. About nineteen members of various state agencies standing around taking notes and pictures, looking a my little Mustang sunk to the axles in red sand, and then looking at me intently. Finally one of the trooper's comes over and asks me why I'm not dead._

 _All I could say was not my time to go._

 _He gave me his card and told me to call him when I got out of the Army. Said he could always use a trooper who could drive like that._

 _It was a nice drive to Tombstone with the tow truck driver. Lots and lots of stars and a big crescent moon. He was even nice enough to call ahead to the Inn and arrange a room for me. It seems that out here on the desert the military gets very good service._

 _The next day I fell in love with the town._

 _Don't know what I'm going to find in Hawaii. Maybe more bad memories. I think there's something there that I really need to get done. Don't know what it is. It's going to be interesting finding out. Then maybe, when I'm done there, I'll come back to the desert. It's quiet here, out in the hinterlands. And the stars are so worth it._

 _I wonder what the stars look like over the Pacific._

 _I wonder if I'll ever find someone to share them with._

 _Still lonely, only this time, I'm not suicidal._

 _Tomorrow, San Diego to drop off my car and then the next day I'm on a plane to Honolulu._

 _Let the adventure begin._

That was the last entry in the book. After that, it was only blank pages.

He put down the book, got dressed, and went to find the one person who knew Maggie better than anyone else.


	3. Chapter 3

The Army had given Susan two weeks of convalescent leave. She didn't think she needed that much, but decided not to argue about it, especially when it could be time well spent moving in with Duke. Susan was finding for the fist time in her life that she was genuinely happy and that retirement from the Army was looking better all the time. All because she's met a silver-haired Hawaiian police sergeant with a quiet manner and the stability of a mountain range. All because Maggie had met that one tall state cop.

Lillie's little pug started barking. Susan looked out the window to see that same tall state cop walking up the path to the front porch. She opened the door before he had a chance to ring the bell.

"What's up?" she asked, concerned. The man was as pale as a ghost and looked as if he could start crying, something she really didn't think she could handle. Then she saw the book he held.

"I see you found it," she said, sighing. "Come on in. I'll make you a cup of tea. Don't even think about suggesting coffee, this is a tea conversation." She led him into the kitchen where she put on the kettle, got out the mugs, and placed them on the table next to the sugar bowl and a plate of lemon slices. She poured hot water into a teapot. He recognized the smell of chamomile.

"Do you remember how I said that if they ever split us up, something bad would happen?" Steve nodded, remembering the conversation they'd had the night Maggie had been injured. "This time, when they split us up, it was at my request. Don't give me that look. I did it trying to save her life."

"Was she suicidal?" he asked.

"I think so," Susan said, sipping her tea, "only I didn't know how bad it was until she got here, and thankfully, by then the worse was over and she was five thousand miles away from Arlington."

"What's Arlington got to do with it?"

"That's where they're buried. Micheal and Lydia. After Lydia died, they were forced to make a decision no grieving parent should ever have to make. It was either cremation or burial in the American cemetery there in Munich. Lydia was cremated and they took her remains back home until they could be reassigned to the States, then they'd decide if she'd be interred in Louisiana or Massachusetts. Only the Gulf War got in the way. After the war's over and I'm at Maggie's packing up her stuff there's a knock at the door. And there's Colonel Alden standing there, looking at me like I'm some sort of alien life form, as if I'm intruding. All he said was that Micheal was being buried at Arlington and Lydia was going in with him. That's all he wanted. That little tiny pink and white box with the painted on roses. I gave it to him, and he didn't even say thank you, just took her and left. I tried to say grief turned him into an asshole, only I knew him too well."

"She went to Arlington a lot when she was at Walter Reed?"

Susan put down her mug. She knew Maggie didn't like to talk about the Gulf War or the time that followed. She looked across the table at Steve. There were dark circles under his eyes and weariness had etched new lines around his mouth and eyes. Susan sighed and decided to tell him everything. "Once she was back on her feet, there was no stopping her. You see, she'd missed the funeral. She was still in ICU when Micheal was killed. She didn't know until nearly a month later, and by that time he'd been returned to the States and buried at Arlington. She felt guilty about not having been there, so saying she was there a lot doesn't even come close. Try every day. The MP's found her out there one morning around three. They called to tell me they'd found her passed out on the grave. I think that may have even been the first attempt. Guess you could say the tolerance she'd built up to pain killers saved her life that night."

"Now it makes sense," Steve said. "That must be why she's refusing all pain medication. About the only thing she'll let the nurses give her are sedatives, and then only enough to sleep for a few hours. Did she get addicted to the pain killers after she was hurt?"

"To be truthful, I really don't know, although I have a strong suspicion she was. We were both assigned to the Pentagon Public Affairs division after we got sprung from Walter Reed. She'd gotten so quiet during that time it was hard to know what she was thinking or feeling. She damn near quit talking to anyone. That's when I talked the the Colonel and he agreed that the best thing we could do for her was to get her away from Arlington. Sent her to Ft Bragg for the next two years. She didn't like it much but there wasn't anything she could do about it. Drink your tea, I've got something for you. It'll help."

He drank the tea, the taste of chamomile reminding him of how often Maggie would taste of chamomile with just a hint of lemon. He knew she had been in a bad place after the war, and that she had only just began coming out of it. Susan and Vinnie had already told him that he was the reason she was slowly coming back to life. She didn't like talking about anything pertaining to the Gulf War. He had gotten her to tell him how she'd been injured only once, and she refused to talk about it ever again. She had came back from the Gulf War with a wired together spine and bad case of PTSD that left her with nightmares, an extreme dislike for crowds, and an aversion to sudden loud noise. And now she was back in the hospital thanks to a psycho with a grudge and it was all his fault.

Susan came back carrying a sealed envelope. The bruise Big Chicken had left on her cheek was beginning to look a little better and not nearly as colorful as it had earlier in the week. She gave Steve the envelope. "She knew that eventually you'd find the book. That's why the note on the first page. She couldn't tell you herself. She was that afraid of losing you."

"I'm not going anywhere," he said.

"She didn't know that then." Susan said.

He opened the envelope and took out a folded sheet of ivory colored paper.

 _Steve,_

 _You saved my life._

 _If it hadn't been for you, I don't think I could have made it another year. Yet here I am, and soon we will be married._

 _Do you know when it happened? After that first night we spent together, you showed me the sunrise._

 _We were on the beach, you were holding me._

 _I'd never seen anything so beautiful or wonderful or peaceful in my life._

 _Sunrise in the tropics._

 _And you were holding me after we had made love the night before._

 _Everything was right._

 _I should have told you then, but I was afraid._

 _But I did tell you later._

 _I love you._

 _Please don't be angry with me._

 _Maggie._

Steve crumpled the paper in his hand as his eyes filled with tears. "She was so depressed she was thinking about suicide and she was afraid I would be angry? She was almost killed in that damned war! It scares the hell out of me to think about how close I came to never having met her and now I find out she wanted to die and she was afraid to tell me?"

"Not anymore, Steve. Not after she got here and certainly not after she met you. Maybe it's like that damned Jimmy Buffett music she's always listening to. Change latitudes and change attitudes. Maybe she just needed a total change of scenery. We both spent too much time in Europe and in DC. Maybe she needed to be by the ocean. But please believe me when I tell you that since she met you all she wants to do is spend the rest of her life with you. And she wants it to be a long and happy one."

Inside his head, he heard her soft drawling voice echoing the words that had gone straight to his heart and embedded themselves in his soul. _"_ _You have all these hopes and dreams and then one day, in a matter of a few seconds, everything changes. For a while there I thought my world had ended. Only it didn't. The earth kept turning, the sun kept coming up, and the moon kept on shining. Life went on, and as much as I tried to avoid it, it seems that it's found me and I'm ready to start living again._ _I'm glad you're here. For some unfathomable reason I'm very glad you're here."_

"She does more than make me happy." Steve said. "She makes my life complete. I didn't know how much I needed her until I almost lost her. It's hard to explain. She's got this, I don't know what to call it, this energy around her that's calming and passionate at the same time. Like earth and fire. Maybe it's that whole modern day pagan hippie thing she has going on. Whatever it is, it's beautiful."

"She has no idea the effect she has on people," Susan said. "Not a clue. She's kept me out of more trouble than you can ever imagine. She's got this aura around her, something that let's people know she's not ordinary. Micheal Alden knew it the minute he met her, and I have a feeling you did, too."

"Kono says she has magic in her blood. Five minutes after he meets her, he's calling a woman from Louisiana a _menehune_."

"She is kind of magic. So's that loony sister of hers. I think it must run in their family. Did you notice they could finish each others sentences? I've heard of that happening with twins, but not with two women born ten years apart."

Vinnie was a younger, brasher, version of Maggie and a Gulf War veteran as well.

"Vinnie is unusual to say the least," Steve said, still slightly annoyed at finding a very hung over Kono trying to sneak out of his house at four in the morning with the help of an equally hungover Vinnie. "You're right, put those two together and strange things happen." _Especially when you throw yourself into the mix, First Sergeant,_ he thought.

"I have a feeling that Bahrain is never going to be the same again. One dimwit from the Aussie Navy propositioned both of them. Said he'd always wanted to do twins and they were close enough. They drank him under the table, stripped off his uniform, and dumped him on the pier in his underwear. I disavow any knowledge of the incident."

"What was she like?" Steve asked. "Before the war. Before she got hurt. Before the PTSD."

Susan stared off into the distance, trying to remember. It was as if the War in the desert and afterwards, the battle with cancer, had erased large portions of her memory, taking away too many of the good ones and leaving the nightmares in place. She had the same shrink at Walter Reed that Maggie had. Neither of them had been willing patients. Both had be ordered to go as a requirement for reenlistment. The doctor, thankfully one of the few female shrinks on staff, was a firm believer in two things. One was taking all the bad memories, shoving them into a box, and locking them away behind a steel door where no one could get to them unless they were needed. The other thing was primal scream therapy accompanied by smashing glass. Susan couldn't vouch for the former, but the primal scream thing just plain worked.

"That's a hard one." she said, staring off into the distance. "She has always had this innocence about her. Something otherworldly. Something that the rest of the world couldn't touch. And she was fun to be around. Always laughing, always joking. She could tell a story, especially after she'd had a few drinks. I swear Micheal use to buy her drinks just to keep her talking. The more she drank, the more the Southern came out. She'd be telling stories and everyone would be laughing and Micheal would be happy to just sit there and listen to her, knowing all the while that he was going to be the one who got to take her home. He was ten years older than she was, and outranked her so much that it could have been a problem if they hadn't been assigned to different units. He was MI and she was a print journalist. He also encouraged her to write."

"Write about what?" he asked.

"Anything other that what she was writing about for the paper. She's got a brilliant imagination trapped inside that little head of hers. She has an entire world of her own making in there. Or it was until that damned war came along. Micheal kept encouraging her to write it all down. He was convinced he was married to a female Faulkner."

"Was it a happy marriage?" he asked, jealous of dead man, as irrational as that sounded.

"The only problem they ever had was the obvious one. They wanted kids. Maggie couldn't have them. She miscarried twice and then Lydia came way too early. That placenta abruption thing. She nearly bled to death. The docs wanted to do a hysterectomy then, only she refused. She wanted to give it one more try. Only Micheal got killed and she got hurt." Susan reached out to take Steve's hand. "I'm sorry. I know she really wanted the baby. She never even got to tell you."

He answered slowly, as if the words were being drug out by force. "After I found out, after Compton had found the card from the hospital and Duke brought it over to me, for about an hour, I hoped, god knows I hoped, that everything would work out. That she'd be okay and in February we'd be parents. Now I'm just glad she's still alive." He reached up to gently stroke Susan's bruised cheek. "I'm glad you're alive, too. I don't think Maggie or Duke would have been able to cope if anything had happened to you."

Susan gave him a sad little smile and got up to get him a fresh cup of tea. "You know, this time, when she starts feeling blue, remind her if it wasn't for her, I'd have never met Duke, Robbie Compton wouldn't be dating Ivory Thompson, Dan Williams would never have married that little sailor, and Grace Thompson wouldn't be seeing Pacita Mendoza."

"That is quite the list. I'm missing something here. Mendoza sounds familiar, I just can't place him right now."

"Could be because he's a she. She works down in your computer lab. Cute little Filipina. Don't look so shocked. Happens in the best families."

Steve shook his head. "Does Colonel Dale know?"

"Colonel Dale has been a firm believer of 'don't ask, don't tell' his entire career. Always said he had more trouble from straight soldiers who though TDY meant "temporary divorce, yahoo!". He doesn't care who sleeps with whom as long as it stays out of his office."

"It looks like I dumped a hell of a mess in his office. Susan, this whole thing is my fault. Chicken wanted to get to me and used you and Maggie to do it. You both could have been killed."

"I've had this same conversation with Duke and I am going to tell you the same thing I told him. Stop that nonsense now! There is no way in hell you could have known what that psycho was planning. He had months to prepare. He just forgot to take a few things into consideration, the biggest being he was under the impression we were helpless females. Oops! Now drink your tea before it gets cold."

Steve drank the tea, noting that the chamomile was a bit earthier tasting than before. He added sugar and lemon and finished the cup. "You are both very special ladies," Steve said, dropping his face into his hands. "Scares the hell out of me to think how close I came to losing her."

"She's going to fine," Susan said. "We can't let her get depressed this time, is all. The damned PTSD isn't going to make this any easier, either. And you, Mr. Supercop, look like you're about to fall over. You need to get some sleep."

"I'll be okay. I need to get back to the hospital."

"No, you need to go to bed. I'm turning Eddie's room into a guest room, only I haven't had a chance to get the posters down yet. I hope you don't mind pictures of scantily clad females."

Steve suddenly felt to sleepy to argue with her and let her show him to the guest room. As it turned out one entire wall of Eddie's room was covered in posters of bikini wearing females. Steve couldn't remember women looking like that when he was twenty. Or at least if they had, they hadn't been at Annapolis.

Susan brought him a pair of Duke's pajama bottoms that were going to be at least three inches too short. He thanked her and undressed after she had closed the door. He got into bed, telling himself he'd only take a short nap.

He didn't wake until the next morning.

* * *

Susan was sitting in the swing on the front lanai, reading, when Duke got home. He bent to kiss her, once again thankful that the only injury she had sustained from Big Chicken was a bruised cheek. "How's my magic lady this afternoon?"

"Happier now that you're home," she said, closing her book and setting it on the small table by the swing. "Want a beer?"

"Yes, thank you," he said, sitting down beside her. "I think it's going to take twice as long to retire from HPD than it did to join." Duke had called Susan earlier to tell her he would soon be Five-O's newest detective.

"Just like the Army," Susan said. "Hurry up and wait and while you're at it, fill out these forms in triplicate." She kissed him and went into the house. She returned a few minutes later, carrying two open bottles of ice cold beer. "I take it you're still on loan out to Five-O until all the paperwork gets processed?"

"You got it. The only difference is I'll be wearing a suit to work instead of a uniform. And a tie. I hate ties." He took a long drink of beer. "This is good. Isn't that Steve's car? Where is he?"

"He dropped by a couple of hours ago. He's sleeping in Eddie's room."

"How'd you manage that? Doc Bergman and everyone at Five-O has been trying to get him to take a break for days. I doubt if he's slept more than six hours this entire week."

"Chamomile tea with a generous helping of Valerian root mixed in. I know it was a sneaky thing to do, but he looked like he was ready to pass out. Needs must and all that."

Duke smiled at the tall blonde from Indiana. His Kukana. "You are the only person on this Rock who'd dare drug Steve McGarrett with a cup of dodgy tea."

"He needed to rest. And so do you. We've all had an awful week. The only thing I want is for you to hold me until morning."

He kissed the top of her head. "Given any thought to a wedding date yet?" he asked.

"How about New Year's Day? Start the year off right."

"Good idea. New Year's Day it is. I was thinking maybe a traditional Island wedding on Hilo."

"Duke," Susan said, "I don't care if it's at the Justice of the Peace's office as long as I get to spend the rest of my life with you. I had to travel across three oceans and a couple of continents to find you. You are so not getting away!"

Duke put down his beer and wrapped her in his arms. He tilted her face upwards and kissed her softly. "I'm not going anywhere." he whispered. "Except to take you to the bedroom. Come on, my Kakana. We can discuss the honeymoon afterwards."


	4. Chapter 4

Maggie was released from the hospital ten days later. She was thin and pale, her summer tan fading during her hospital stay. She was still weak from blood loss, pain, and the trauma of major surgery. Steve was just happy to have her back home. He helped her out of the car and would have carried her into the house if she hadn't insisted she was strong enough to walk the few feet from the car to the front door. He'd wrapped an arm around her too thin waist and pretended he didn't notice how frail she really was. He helped her get settled on the sofa in the living room and went back to the car to fetch her bags.

Maggie sat staring at the blank screen of the TV. She was home. Steve was there and he had been there while she was in the hospital. He had been there when she had awakened from surgery, he was there when the doctors had told her she'd lost the baby and would never have another. He'd held her hand as she had cried in pain, once again speaking to her in that deep, rough voice that reminded her of black velvet and smokey bourbon, telling her that everything was going to be alright. She wished she could believe him.

Steve stashed her bags in the bedroom and sat beside her on the sofa. "How's my girl?" he asked.

"Happy to be home," she said. "I don't think I could take another day in that place."

"Can I get you anything?" he asked. A stray lock of hair had came loose from her braid. It seemed like that one lock of hair had a mind of it's own and refused to stay in place without mass quantities of hair gel. He tucked it behind her ear, gently caressing her neck as he did, softly stoking the bruises left by the IV's.

"No, not really. But I would love to sit in the sun for a while. I think my Vitamin D levels are at an all time low."

He rose and held out a hand to help her up. "I think I can arrange that," he said.

"I need to get into some real clothes first," she said leaning against him as his embrace tightened around her. She had almost forgotten how good it felt when he held her.

"Anything you want, my Little _Menehune_ ," he said.

Ten minutes later he was tucking a light blanket around her legs as she sat in the chaise lounge on the lanai. Maggie sighed as the rays of the sun started warming her from the inside out. "How's that?" Steve asked. "Comfortable?"

"Yes," she said, giving him the first real smile he'd seen since the whole nightmare had began. "Steve, honey, I'm fine. I'm not an invalid."

He pulled a chair up next to hers and sat down, taking her hand in his as he did. "I know you're not an invalid. I also know you're too stubborn to ask for help when you need it. Besides, I like spoiling you."

She reached up to stroke his cheek. "What am I suppose to do with you, Commander?" she asked.

"Well, for starters you can marry me on my birthday," he said. It was the first time he'd mentioned the wedding since she had been injured.

She didn't say anything. She bowed her head, refusing to look at him, and got way too quiet.

"Maggie, honey," he said. "What's wrong?"

She looked up, her eyes bright with unshed tears. "You still want to go through with the wedding?" she asked. "Even after..." she choked on the sob that was rising in her throat.

"Maggie, baby, listen to me. I love you and if nothing else this whole incident has convinced me how much I need you. It took me a long time to find you and I don't intend to lose you, not over this, or anything else. A child, our child, would have been wonderful and magical and beautiful, but it wasn't meant to be. But I've still got you, and you've still got me, and I truly hope that is enough."

She managed a half smile. "It's more than enough," she said.

"Good," he said, "and that's the last I want to hear about this. After you get better, after the wedding, if you want, we can look into adopting a child. If that's what you want."

"I love you, Commander," she said.

"I love you, too, Sergeant." he said, smiling. "I was going to wait until after the wedding to tell you this, only I think now's as good a time as any. It will be retired commander the day after my birthday. I put in my request for retirement from the Reserves. Approval has already been granted. One less demand on time I'd rather spend with you."

"And I'll be done with the Army in fifteen months. Wow. We'll both be civilians."

"You will be, at least. I'm still a cop for a few more years. There must be something in the air. Duke has almost convinced Susan to retire at twenty-five instead of thirty."

"I don't think I've ever seen her so happy before. He's good for her. I think he's what she's been looking for all her life and I'm happy she's finally found him. I still can't believe they're getting married."

"I've never seen Duke happier, only with him it's hard to tell."

She suddenly became very serious. It was as if a dark cloud had blotted out the sun. "Steve, when you got there to rescue us, what happened? I know Robbie was shot. Everything else is fuzzy. Duke shot the one called Big Chicken?"

Steve had been dreading this conversation. He knew it would happen sooner or later. He'd been hoping for later. "Duke shot Big Chicken in the back. When Chicken lost the grip on your shoulder, Duke took the one shot he knew he had. The bullet blew out a good chunk of that creep's spine. Big Chicken is going to spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair."

"And the other two?" she asked.

"Collins fired a shotgun at Robbie. Robbie is one very lucky young man. The shotgun was loaded with birdshot and his vest caught most of the impact. He'll be back on duty in about two weeks. That is if he survives meeting Ivory's parents."

"Colonel Dale says he's going to lodge a complaint with Chief Dann if HPD officers keep poaching his soldiers. I'm not sure if he was joking when he said it. What happened after Robbie was shot?"

"I shot Collins and Barker," he said. "Collins is dead. Barker is going to prison for the rest of his life. He's turning states evidence to save his sorry hide. If I had my way he'd be looking at the death penalty."

"I thought Hawaii didn't have the death penalty?"

"It doesn't. But Federal does. He was on government property when he kidnapped you and Susan, making it a Federal crime. He started screaming states evidence and excessive force as soon as he was read his rights."

"Excessive force? Because he got shot?"

'No, honey, because Duke backhanded Barker so hard he lost two teeth. Or that's his story. When he found out exactly how much trouble he was in he was happy to forget about charging Duke with anything."

"That doesn't sound like Duke at all. I didn't think anything ruffled him."

"Neither did I," Steve said, truthfully. "He kicked Big Chicken in the head, twice, after he had shot and disarmed him. You don't threaten a Hawaiian's family. Chicken threatened Duke's and Duke made certain Chicken would never threaten his family or anyone else's ever again." He paused for a minute, thinking, before he continued. "The Hawaiian's have a word for family: _Ohana_. It's meaning goes deeper than just blood family. It's the family that you make. I didn't really understand it until now."

"Is that why you killed Collins, because he threatened your family?"

"No, baby. That was instinct and reflexes. I honestly don't remember pulling the trigger. The only thing I could think of was getting to you, and Collins was in the way. Collins got a clean shot to the head. It was quick and probably painless and a better death than he deserved." Steve stood up. "Enough of this. Keep this up and we're both going to have nightmares." He bent to kiss the top of her head. "I have to call the office and make sure Danno and rest of the crew are keeping busy. All you need to do is lie there and soak up some rays. I'll be back in a bit." He went into the house, keeping the sliding glass door open, never letting her out of his sight.

 _Ohana_ , Maggie thought. _The family that you make. Family, like Lu, no make that Susan. She says she's grown up now. All I know is she's happy. Duke treats her like a queen and his kids are already calling her mom. Steve has his son and his sister and her family and all of Five-O, I've got my family in Louisiana and all my sisters in uniform with Colonel Dale acting as our surrogate daddy and now I've got Steve and Cooper and Mary Ann and her family, and the crew from Five-O. That's a good word,_ _Ohana. The family that you make. I think I've made a very good one._

She must have dozed off, because when she awoke, the sun was going down and Steve was holding her hand.

"Hey, Big Guy," she said sleepily.

"You looked so peaceful I didn't want to wake you," Steve said. "Ready to go inside?"

Maggie nodded and allowed him to help her up. "It's good to be home," she said, leaning against him, inhaling the scent of good soap and the sandalwood cologne he always wore. " _Ohana_ ," she whispered. "My _Ohana._ "

"Yes, my Little M _enehune_ , my _ohana mau loa._ "


End file.
